Dual-earner couples = both spouses involved in labour force where one may be pursuing a career while the other views his occupational involvement as a job or where both spouses consider themselves to hold jobs.
Working couple = consists of any two people in an ongoing, committed relationship, where both partners work, where there may or may not be children and where decisions are influenced by the working situation of each partner.
% of women entering marketplace is increasing - men no longer sole bread winners and women no longer only responsible for the household.
Married women take on full-time career to supplement household income and satisfy own career expectations.
taking on roles and gaining more self-knowledge adds to personal growth, also helps to gain clarity about demands and expectations regarding the roles
main area of concern is to effectively fulfill all demands of their various roles e.g. parent, spouse, friend, career
Work and family roles compete for time
Role overload and role ambiguity can cause stress symptoms e.g. tension, anxiety, fatigue, burnout
Conflict within the family, lack of career and family support can have detrimental effect on individuals working life.
Behaviour-based conflict is patterns of role behaviour that may conflict with behaviour expected of a person within his different roles - e.g. work role - emotionally stable, self reliant, rational and home role - warm, loving, emotionally sensitive
Organisation needs be aware of individual’s lifestyle and career aspirations and his personal responsibilities and should act accordingly e.g. more accommodating policies.
3.1Family factors
Relates to behaviour of the partners and includes fairness, communication and mutuality between partners and work-family balance.
Partners need to view their roles as fair and may include crossing over the traditional gender role. To be successful, communication and spousal support are important.
Work-family balance is crucial. – “the extent to which an individual is equally engaged in and equally satisfied with, his work role and family role.” – Sum of time balance, involvement balance and satisfaction balance.
Finding balance between work and family makes following demands on couples:
Work-home interface is an interactive process in which a workers functioning in one domain is influenced by load reactions that have built up in the other domain. Consists of 4 dimensions:
Work-family issues are viewed as affecting company competitiveness and are therefore not only a problem for employees but also for organisations. Research found that employees of a family-supportive organization enjoy higher levels of career satisfaction and are more committed to organizational success.
3.2Family patterns (see Table 6.3)
Gilbert identifies 3 general marital patterns of dual-career families:
Conventional pattern – both partners are career-oriented but woman bears most of the responsibility for the children and household.
Modern pattern – parenting role is equally shared by the souses but woman takes responsibility for the household, therefore men have close relationship with their children but still regard housework as woman’s responsibility
Role-sharing pattern – both spouses are actively involved in the household, their roles as parents and in their occupational pursuits.
3.3Work-family conflict
Couples managing different roles may find that the demands of one role makes it difficult to comply with the demands of another role.
